Sustainability and Impact

[neilly]

As part of the conditions for running the Trotternish Ridge race we had to jump through a few hoops. As it's a SSSI area we need to submit photos of each check point before and after the runners have been through. We also need to divert runners away from a Golden Eagle nest and an area of rare bog plant that only grows here and Iceland.
In the 8 years we've run it there has never been any damage done to the ground. Runners approach the check points from a myriad of directions and the day after the race when we're collecting CPs etc there's rarely even any stud marks. What is evident though is rubbish dropped from walkers doing the Skye Trail and a motor bike track that some tool left when he rode the whole route 10 years ago. Saying that, I often use the remnants of the motor bike tracks as a navigation aid when it's misty.

[ba-ba]

Fell running may have anecdotal evidence of lack of impact upon the surroundings long term, but I think any race going over sensitive ground would be prudent to take before, after and 3-6month after photos to better confirm the anecdotal evidence (as a low key version of what the OMM and Dragon's back do in their impact assessments) as a pre-emptive strike.

Having put out/collected controls on the DB this year, not only do they employ someone to do a pre/post survey, but as control hanging teams we were asked to take time stamped photos of iffy fell infrastructure (e.g. already damaged stiles and gates) before and after the event had passed through. Make sure no unscrupless landowners/authorities can take the piss.

Despite being a generally trusting soul, any fell events I am involved with in the future I will do similar and send them to the relevant authority.

[Alan]

Excellent advice there from ba-ba. I've always done pre- and post- inspections of my fell races, but I've never considered taking photographs in case of any later issues. I'll certainly take this on board.

On the first running of my latest race (the DCRO Dash) I was very pleased by the total lack of race evidence over the course the day after the event.

Regarding "iffy" fell infrastructure, on this race we actually rebuilt a stile which connected two CROW areas within the SSSI (but did not form part of a ROW) and this was much appreciated by the farmer. In the case of the Dash, the race is a fund-raiser of the local cave rescue team, which regularly retrieves livestock from caves and mines on behalf of the farmers, and I'm sure that other races will find ways of ensuring that the local population see these events in a positive light - which will go a long way towards general sustainability.

[Llani Boy]

I think it is the quango’s that are the problem, not the farmers.

[Moel]

It’s an interesting topic and I’d like to read the paper about the effects of mass use in a short period of time.....anecdotally the section of Offas Dyke path that crosses Moel Dywyll in the Clwydian was changed literally overnight after the Excalibur mountain marathon this year- smooth green steepness became a brown gravelly slope - though it’s starting to green up again...

[Daletownrunner]

I think it is the quango’s that are the problem, not the farmers.

I agree with you L B, I probably need to go and lie down in a darkened room

[Dave_Mole]

Did you not hear? The government of the day got rid of most quangos back in 2010.

[Wheeze]

I thought quangos were extinct. Didn't all the sailors eat them??

[Llani Boy]

I thought quangos were extinct. Didn't all the sailors eat them??

No. They are still very much alive and voraciously gobbling up your and my money. They have fancier names nowadays, often prefixed with with words like English, Natural,Resources or Sustainable but still staffed by people who have qualifications as long as your arm but no real life experience or common sense.

They also tend not to practice what they preach.